BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH NO. 5113 HINA Zagreb, 22 October 2003

HR-BULLETIN-Politika BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH NO. 5113 HINA Zagreb, 22 October 2003 FINNISH GOV'T DISCUSSING SAA BETWEEN CROATIA AND EUHELSINKI, Oct 22 (Hina) - Finland's government is currently debating the process of ratifying the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between Croatia and the EU and will forward its recommendation to parliament as early as Friday, Finnish President Tarja Halonen said on Wednesday after talks with her Croatian counterpart Mesic, adding that parliament should decide on the ratification of the SAA within the next several months. The government will today discuss the ratification of Croatia's agreement and forward its recommendation to parliament, Halonen said and expressed hope the government would adopt a positive decision. She said she expected the process in parliament to last several months. The SAA between Croatia and the EU has so far been ratified by ten EU countries -- Austria, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Germany,